


Drown Me

by Harper44



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Drowning, Interspecies Relationship(s), M/M, fisherman rhett, handjobs, merman link
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:42:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25537513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harper44/pseuds/Harper44
Summary: Rhett's life is pretty plain. He works an office job and fishes in his free time. Everything changes when he spots a beautiful merman while fishing one day.
Relationships: Rhett McLaughlin/Link Neal
Comments: 24
Kudos: 40





	1. Part 1

The sun is so hot on the back of his neck he can practically feel more freckles blooming there. Rhett goes to root around the cabin of his little fishing boat for a second time, beyond annoyed with himself that he forgot to bring the towel he usually uses to cover his neck. There isn’t a cloud in the sky as he sits back down to keep an eye on his lines. He tries to calm himself and go to a better place in his mind because he has full intentions of this being a relaxing and easy Saturday. It feels like the ocean is all he’s got in his life. At least his small house is so close to the coast, even though he has no view. His job is a boring 9-5, so going out in his boat on afternoons and weekends are his favorite moments. 

Rhett’s eyes drift around the cove he’s in. He kind of considers it “his” since he always comes here. The dark rocks tower over him, only providing shelter if you didn’t think too hard about it. Occasionally, Rhett finds himself squinting into a crack or shadow, willing something to emerge. He’s heard rumors of strange creatures around here, but he’s never seen any. His imagination conjures plenty for him, though, both scary and pleasant. The sun drifts through the sky, lighting up new crevices. Rhett eventually grabs the sandwich he brought for lunch and is inches from a bite when an unusual glimmer catches his eye. He squints towards the rocks nearest his boat and shifts to the left for a better look. The light reflected off of whatever it is is blinding and tented blue. He sets down his sandwich reluctantly and goes all the way to the left edge of his boat to get rid of the glare. Once his eyes adjust, he gasps aloud at what he sees. It’s a long, scaled, glimmering blue tail. Rhett nearly falls out of the boat trying to see more of the creature.

With practiced hands, he stores his fishing poles, not wanting to be hindered from investigating what he’s found. He marvels at the size of the tail, it has to be about as long and wide as the legs of a human. Silently as possible, Rhett maneuvers his boat closer and past the rocks that were blocking his view. Once he’s satisfied, he scrambles back outside to see the rest of the creature and finds himself gasping again. It’s a mermaid, no, a merman. He’s laid out on the rock, blue scales of all shades shining in the sun. The scales become skin around his hip bones, but there are small patches of scales over the rest of his body. The arms and shoulders are shockingly human with defined muscles and a deep tan. Rhett can see a thin membrane between his fingers. His eyes keep traveling up and pause to watch flexing gills on a long neck. Finally, he reaches the merman’s face and he’s startled to find bright blue eyes watching him from under a mess of dark hair. The eyes are the same color as the tail and at first glance, Rhett would recognize them as human, but the longer he looks, the more otherness he finds in the gaze. It becomes too much and he looks down at the water. The ocean’s blue seems almost dull now in comparison to the merman’s brilliant tail and eyes. 

His head jerks back up when he hears a splash and there’s a sinking feeling in his stomach when he realizes the merman had slipped back into the sea. He wanted to see if he could talk to him. In his disappointment, he misses the flash of the blue tail next to his boat. Rhett sits down and sighs, contemplating setting his fishing gear back up. All he really wants to do is see the merman again. No one is going to believe what he saw, and it’s not like he really has anyone to tell anyways. When he hears more splashing, Rhett barely whips around in time to see black hair and a partially scaled arm disappear over the side of the boat, sandwich in hand. “Hey!” Rhett says, standing and lunging to the side of the boat. Only a few feet away, the merman keeps himself upright in the water with his tail and happily munches on the sandwich. His face and wide eyes seem much more human now. “That was mine,” Rhett mumbles. He has no idea the level of comprehension this creature has, whether to treat him as an intelligent being or an animal. And even if he is intelligent enough for language, he may not speak English. 

The merman shrugs and keeps eating. Rhett takes that as a sign of understanding, so he decides to go ahead and introduce himself. “I’m Rhett.”

The creature nods to indicate he heard and finishes the bite in his mouth. “My name is Link.” His voice has a slight melodic quality to it that's deep and haunting. 

Rhett chuckles and says, “Are you the Missing Link?”

The merman shrugs again, “Guess so.” He swallows his last bite of the sandwich and deems the conversation over because he simply sinks beneath the waves and vanishes. Rhett keeps his eyes on the water around the boat for a while longer before finally giving in to the fact that he’s not coming back. Now without lunch and with his gear already packed up, Rhett decides to just go home. He wants to do some research before he comes back out tomorrow. 

-

Rhett is annoyed again as he sits in his boat on Sunday morning. He had remembered his towel, but he had come up completely empty in his research on merpeople. A small voice in the back of his mind also reminds him that he'll probably never see Link again. He hadn't seen him until yesterday and it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume the merman had only been passing through. He'd brought two sandwiches anyway. 

He doesn't feel like setting up his equipment, so he simply dozes in the morning sun, eyes snapping open every time a reflection sends a glint of light at his face. Rhett is starting to believe Link was a figment of his imagination when a disturbance of the water makes him open his eyes again. He almost falls out of his chair when he finds Link there with his arms resting on the edge of the boat, chin resting on top of them. "You're real," he says dumbly, resisting the urge to reach out and touch him to confirm his statement. 

Link grins, revealing sharp teeth, "You're out here earlier than usual."

Rhett reels at the contrast of such a non-human grin with such a human statement. He's also confused at the implication of Link's words. "You know when I'm usually here?"

"Gotta be aware so I don't nick myself on your lines."

"Oh, sorry."

Link shrugs, "You aren't the only one who fishes. Besides, I like it when you're here better than others."

"Why?"

"You're more quiet and respectful of the sea. And you're beautiful." Rhett was not expecting a compliment from a creature more beautiful than any living thing he'd ever seen on land, so he has no response to it. He opens and closes his mouth like a fish and Link laughs. "Thank you for the sandwich by the way. I haven't had human food in a while."

Rhett finally laughs a little and forces himself to relax. "You're welcome, I guess. I brought you another on purpose this time."

"Really?" Link asks, face lighting up, "You wanted to see me again?"

"Yeah. I wasn't sure if you would stay around here or if you'd left."

"I'm always around here," Link says, "I live here."

Rhett gets up the courage to sit on the floor of the boat and scoot closer to him. "How come I've never seen you before?"

"I had to make sure you weren't the kind of human who would hurt or capture me." Link picks at a scale on his arm.

"Oh, that makes sense. Well, I won't, don't worry. Have humans hurt you before?" Rhett instantly regrets his question. Link's gills flare out and his eyes fill with emotions and instincts that are distinctly non-human. "I'm sorry, never mind," Rhett rushes to say. 

Link leans back and looks at the sky, still hanging onto the boat. His gaze sweeps over Rhett and the space around him before he says decidedly, "Move over, I'm coming up there. Wanna be in the sun."

That's Rhett's only warning and he scrambles back to give the merman room as he watches him lift himself up and over the side of the boat. He barely gets his tail all the way in and it hangs over the edge a little as he sighs contentedly and lays on his back. Rhett's eyes roam the body in front of him, even more awe struck than yesterday with him so close. His skin glistens and Rhett notices it's covered in a thin film that his own skin isn't. He suspects it keeps him from burning in the sun. A sudden desperation to touch him crashes over Rhett. In an attempt to not do that, he fixates on the place where scales meet skin. Rhett is enthralled by the sea creature half of Link, it's so beautiful and other. But he can’t ignore the fact that by human standards, the human part of Link is also gorgeous. 

Rhett lays back in a half sitting position to make himself stop staring. He's highly aware of their proximity and his fingers itch to close the gap in some way. 

"You're out here a lot, pretty consistently," Link states after a while, voice the most human it's been since they first spoke. 

"Yeah, not much for me back on land," Rhett sighs, uncomfortable with thinking about the reality of his life right now when the reality of out here has just become so much more vibrant. Rhett chances another question, "Are there other merpeople?"

"Yes, but not many around here." Link says dismissively.

Rhett contemplates his next words for several minutes, thinking back to Link's compliment from earlier. "Are the others as gorgeous as you?"

He sees Link smile at the compliment and smirks. Link turns his head to actually look at him now and smirks right back as he says, "Merpeople are known for their vanity, but I personally think I've got the rest of them beat in the attractiveness area." He emphasizes with a flick of his tail and it draws Rhett's attention to the shimmering blue scales that almost look like animated water. 

"Tail's so much prettier than legs," Rhett comments, again itching to touch him.

"Definitely," Link agrees, "But yours aren't too bad. Fine at swimming, I bet."

Rhett chuckles and glances between his long legs and the long, glimmering tail next to them. "Yeah, I'm pretty good at swimming." Link gives him a look and Rhett rolls his eyes. "Good enough for a human." They fall silent for a while, Link basking in the sun, lazy flicks of his tail mesmerizing Rhett. 

The merman perks up suddenly a while later as if woken by an alarm. Rhett watches him glance around at their surroundings as if checking for something. "I hope you'll come again soon," Link says, beginning to work himself back towards the edge of the boat.

"I will, maybe tomorrow," Rhett says. He watches Link struggle to turn in a way to get himself back in the water and maintain some dignity. Rhett doesn't dare try to help unless asked. His eyes drift down the plane of Link’s back and it occurs to him distantly that if a human were wearing pants as low as Link’s scales go, he’d probably be seeing buttcrack. Rhett shakes his head slightly to keep from going down that track. He watches muscles tense and ripple as the merman finally gets most of his weight back over the side. 

"Tomorrow, then," Link says before dropping into the water.

It isn't until Rhett eats lunch an hour later that he realizes he didn't give Link his sandwich.

-

Their visits become regular over the next few weeks. They chat and watch the sunset on weekdays and Link drags himself up onto the boat to lay in the sun on weekends. Rhett thinks he’s sort of like a cat in that way. This particular Friday, they’ve fallen into a spell of silence, Link looking out at the water over his shoulder and Rhett staring at him and the way his muscles stretch with his body turned like that. Rhett could almost think of him as a man when he can’t see him from the waist down, but his eyes are drawn to the gills fluttering occasionally on his neck. He wonders about merman anatomy and how it seems so different yet so similar to his own. When he begins thinking about the sexual aspects of Link’s body, he clears his throat and tries to come up with a topic of conversation. Link turns back to look at him and tilts his head in a gesture of curiosity. Rhett grows pleasantly uncomfortable as the merman’s eyes roam over him. He feels like those eyes see more than his own do. Link’s gaze finally meets back with his and he says, ”Do you have any books?”

“Um…” Rhett mentally sorts through the contents of the cabin. “Yeah, I think I have one. Why?” Link can’t exactly borrow a book.

He seems to settle more comfortably at the side of the boat before stating his request, “Read to me.”

“Oh.” Logically, Rhett knows he can say no. It’s been a long time since he’s read aloud. But saying no to Link seems near impossible and the longer he holds eye contact, the more he actually does want to read anyway. “Okay, let me find it.” It takes several minutes of digging for Rhett to find The Old Man and the Sea. He does love to read on the boat, but he hasn’t been bringing books lately since he has company. He remembers putting this book on the boat when he first bought it, sort of like a ritual or good omen.

He returns to his chair and Link catches sight of the title. “I’ve heard of that book.” Rhett wonders vaguely how he knows about human books, but decides not to ask questions today. He opens to the first page and begins to read, voice uncertain at first, but he soon becomes more sure and puts more emotion into what he’s reading. Link switches between watching him and closing his eyes just to listen. When Rhett pauses to get a drink of water, Link says, “You have a nice voice.”

Said voice murmurs a strangled, “Um, thank you,” before he returns to reading. He’ll never get used to receiving compliments from the beautiful merman.

He finishes the second chapter and stops. The pair sits in silence for a while, Link’s eyes still closed. He finally looks up and catches Rhett’s gaze. He’s surprised at how vulnerable and human he looks in that moment. “Am I the big fish and you’re trying to catch me like the old man?” He murmurs.

“What?” Rhett sets the book down, processing the question. “No! No, of course not. It’s just the book I happened to have, I don’t mean anything by it. I could never hurt you.” Link tilts his head and drums his fingers on the side of the boat. The sun is beginning to set behind him and he looks like he’s glowing in the orange light. “Have you ever seen a big fish like that?”

Link looks to the side to think. “The biggest things I’ve seen are whales. They’re kind of like giant cows.” Rhett notes his reference to land. How does he know about cows? There aren’t many near the coast.

“Are there other sea creatures that humans think are mythical that are actually real?” Rhett asks, casting his mind to the fantasy books he’s read. 

“Probably some, but I don’t think there are any other intelligent beings like me. Sirens and things? None of that.” Link’s gaze sweeps over Rhett’s disappointed face. “Unless your heart’s desire is a mermaid.”

He meets his eyes when Link says that and leans forward. “That’s too bad. My heart’s desire is more likely to be a merman.” Rhett lets his eyes roam the merman’s face, openly admiring him for the first time.

Link’s gaze shifts pointedly to his lips. “I think that can be arranged.” He pushes himself up to get closer and Rhett’s hand curls around the back of his head, careful to avoid his gills, and threads into his coarse hair. Link’s arm wraps around his back and he brings their lips together. At first, all Rhett can think is salty, but as they melt into each other, he registers the softness and warmth. Link tries to pull him closer and Rhett is practically halfway out of the boat. He makes a mental note to bring a swimsuit tomorrow. They finally break apart for air; Link’s gills are flexing furiously like he can’t catch his breath. Rhett reaches down and wraps his arms around the merman’s waist, bringing him most of the way out of the water before kissing him again. This time it’s deep and hungry and Link’s hands are in his hair. Rhett slips his tongue into his mouth and runs it over sharp teeth before letting Link explore his mouth in turn. Link’s fingers dig into his back, trying to keep himself up and desperate for closeness. Rhett growls deep in his throat at the feeling and starts moving away from his lips to kiss his jaw.

Link arches into him when he places careful and measured kisses as close to his gills as he dares. “Feel good?” Rhett asks, voice low.

“Mhm, yes, sensitive.” Link’s voice had gone lower too, but where Rhett’s had become more throaty, Link’s had smoothed out and sounded more hollow. Rhett runs his tongue slowly down Link’s throat next to fluttering gills, making Link let out a low and desperate whine. 

“Oh, you sound heavenly,” Rhett whispers, placing more kisses on Link’s neck. 

“Wanna hear you too,” Link says, shifting all his weight into one hand so he can bring the other up to the side of Rhett’s face. He kisses his lips quickly before dipping down to get at his neck and collar bones, taking advantage of the mostly unbuttoned shirt Rhett is wearing. Rhett shouldn’t be surprised, but he still is when Link’s lips and tongue on his skin feel better than any human he’s ever been with. His moans begin to slip out completely against his will as Link works his way towards a nipple.

Rhett places a gentle hand on the back of his neck and guides him back up for a kiss. It lasts longer than he intended, but he’s not complaining. “Link, this is so good. I- I don’t even know what to say. It’s getting dark…” 

He shuts him up with another kiss, then easily slips out of Rhett’s arms back into the ocean. The grin on his face makes him look more like a sea creature than ever, but there’s human happiness in his eyes. “Tomorrow, Rhett.” All he can do is nod mutely in response.


	2. Part 2

Rhett’s never managed to get up and out to sea this early on a Saturday. After he’s anchored and sat there for a while, he realizes that Link doesn’t expect him to be this early anyway. He skims the next chapter of the book in case they read again today. He’s barely even looked up from the pages when Link is hauling himself into the boat, exclaiming, “You’re so early! Someone excited to see me?” Rhett’s excited in more ways than one and he grins down at the merman who’s lazily laid out on his boat deck. “Hey, you wore a swimsuit,” Link points out. “Finally gonna join me in the water.” He winks and Rhett laughs.

“Looks like it, but you’ve gone to the trouble of getting all the way up here so we can stay on the boat for a while.” Rhett pulls off his shirt and lays down next to him.

Link sighs and runs his fingers lightly over Rhett’s arm that’s resting on his stomach. It takes Rhett several seconds to adjust to the casual touch. They’d never touched before last night, so Rhett hadn’t expected him to be so comfortable so quickly. “I love the sunshine,” Link says with a smile. 

Rhett chuckles, “I noticed. You’re like a freaking house cat.”

Link laughs, “Yeah, you’re right.” To demonstrate further, he stretches his arms above his head and his tail lifts a little off the deck, eyes squeezed shut and back arched.

“Have you ever even seen a cat? How do you know so much about humans?” Rhett asks. He says nothing for a while and Rhett wonders if he’d fallen asleep until he turns his head to find Link staring blankly at the sky. 

“I used to be human, Rhett. Long time ago.” He brings his arms back down from above his head and runs his fingers over the place where his scales meet his torso.

“How…?” Rhett breathes, taking in Link’s body anew. 

Link stares into his eyes for a long moment. “You aren’t ready to know that yet.” Rhett nods in understanding, trusting Link to tell him when the time comes. He sits up halfway to make his back more comfortable and finds himself staring at the shades of blue in Link’s tail. He tears his gaze away when he notices Link shifting his head back to look up at him. “Wanna touch it?”

Rhett hesitates, “Seriously?”

“Yeah, of course.” He lifts himself onto his elbows and Rhett’s eyes are drawn to the movement of his abs. He knows Link knows he’s looking and he really doesn’t care. He can practically feel Link basking in it. He said merpeople are vain and Link sure does have reason to be. Rhett scoots down to sit cross legged next to the tail, squinting into the light it reflects. He drags his eyes slowly up Link’s body and finally stops on his face to see if it’s still okay. Link has a smug look on his face and mischief in his eyes as he nods slightly before leaning his head back, showing off his neck and collar bones. That display almost makes it sensual and Rhett scolds himself for being so turned on right now. He reaches out and gingerly grazes his fingers over the tail, about where a human’s thigh would be. It’s so smooth and slick, he barely restrains from pressing his whole hand to it until Link says, “Aw, come on, is that all you want?” He flicks the end of his tail up, spraying Rhett with water.

Rhett can hear the taunt in his voice, they both know that is absolutely not all that he wants. His reluctance finally gives and Rhett runs a hand down half the length of Link’s tail. He feels a little as if he’s petting him which is too weird, so he stretches up to give Link a quick kiss before leaning down and pressing his lips to his hip bone. Link lets out a hum of satisfaction which encourages Rhett to keep going. He kisses and sucks along Link’s abdomen, not hesitating to mouth at scales and skin. He wonders in the back of his mind if it’s possible to leave a hickey. The merman reaches down and threads his fingers through Rhett’s hair and eventually pulls him gently back up to his lips. 

Rhett can’t help but worship the beautiful creature with his mouth. He spreads careful kisses around Link’s gills where he knows it feels good and then works his way over his chest, trying and succeeding in leaving hickeys. When his neck starts to ache from the angle, he lifts a leg up and over Link to straddle his hips. He gasps when his groin comes into brief contact with Link’s body and it makes his dick throb. Link’s fingers play with his hair and his other hand traces shapes into his back. “Bet you could romance all the beautiful mermaids around here,” Link says.

“I’ve never seen any others,” Rhett says, barely pausing his kisses to speak. “Besides, there’s no way they’re more beautiful than you.”

Link chuckles, “You haven’t seen any others because I told them you’re mine.”

It takes Rhett a moment to understand what Link said, but when he does, his head jerks up, “You said I’m yours?”

Link draws a hand down the side of his face and strokes his beard, “Yeah, a few months ago, the first time I saw you. I told the mermaids who lurk around here to get off your case because I wanted you.” There’s a minute of silence as Rhett dwells on this development and Link’s hand still rests on his cheek. “You are mine, aren’t you?” Link asks quietly.

“Yes,” Rhett answers quickly, no other answer even enters his mind. An animalistic expression flashes across Link’s face, but he doesn’t worry about it because he dives back down to kiss along Link’s shoulders and his moans sound human enough for Rhett. If he was less distracted, he’d notice the note-like quality of them.

At this point, he can’t help but grind his groin down into Link’s abdomen and let loose a groan into his skin. Link arches his back as he thrusts up, a small whimper reaching Rhett’s ear. He kisses along the merman’s jaw, breathing heavily now at the slow friction of their bodies. Somewhere deep in the back of his mind, Rhett realizes that he has no earthly idea how to get a merman off. He’s moaning and whimpering under him now, though, so he decides to cross that bridge when he gets there. He, on the other hand, is desperately hard and the movement is making the lining of his swimsuit uncomfortable. He’s thinking about how to ask Link if he can take them off when wandering fingers sneak under his waistband by themselves. Rhett sits up immediately and rushes to get his single piece of clothing off, making Link laugh in his struggle.

Once Rhett is back on top of him, Link says, “I personally think no clothes is better.” His hands travel down Rhett’s body, gliding over the skin on his chest and hips. Link’s hands feel cool, damp, and smooth. Rhett is instantly wondering what that will feel like on his dick. He doesn’t have to wonder long, because after a look of consent, Link wraps his hand around him and gives his first purposeful stroke. Rhett’s forehead hits the deck next to Link’s ear and he moans desperately. He’s never felt anything this good in his life. He can tell Link is grinning as he picks up the pace, swiping his thumb over the head and spreading around the embarrassing amount of precum. 

Rhett manages to pick his head up and mouth at Link’s shoulder and neck. It starts sloppy and gets sloppier as he comes close to climax. Link is merciless as he strokes. Rhett’s legs begin to give out and his body lowers a little, pushing a high pitched whimper out of him when his balls touch the smooth texture of Link’s scales. Link uses his free hand to hold the back of Rhett’s head and bring his mouth to his own. He gives him a long kiss, dipping his tongue into his mouth, before pulling back and breathing, “Come for me.” Rhett couldn’t have disobeyed that order if he’d tried. White ropes spurt over their chests and Rhett gasps for air as he rides it through, the textures he’s never felt on his cock before making tears come to his eyes in over-stimulation. Link lets go of him and he finally stills, nuzzling his nose into his neck and breathing in his salty scent.

He finally manages to push himself up and he runs his hands down his merman’s torso, admiring the mess. Link reaches a finger down and drags it through the cum before bringing it back up to his mouth and sucking it off. Rhett moans halfheartedly. He kisses him and relishes in tasting himself there. “What do I need to… for you?” Rhett tries to ask, gesturing vaguely between them. 

Link smiles sadly and holds his face in his hands. “I can’t…” He sighs, trying to figure out how to articulate it, thumbs smoothing over Rhett’s reddened cheeks. “Merpeople have no means of procreation.” 

“Oh,” Rhett says, embarrassment making him want to tuck his face back in Link’s neck.

“You made me feel really good, though. I’m still human enough to appreciate everything. I guess my nipples are the home of my sex drive,” Link giggles, “And I really really like making you feel that good.” They laugh together and kiss a few more times. “Okay, this is starting to feel yucky, let's get in the water.” Rhett agrees and they move toward the edge of the boat. Link allows Rhett to help him now so he won’t hurt himself. Not even bothering with the swimsuit, Rhett jumps in after him. They play around in the water, Link teasing Rhett about his swimming abilities. It ends up being the best day either of them have had in a long time.

-

A few more weeks go by filled with talking, swimming, and making out. Rhett is completely intoxicated by Link. He won’t let a day go by without seeing him. He hardly remembers his hours at the office anymore, gorgeous merman always on his mind. Part of him begins to wish he could join him in the sea. He has nothing here. His family lives halfway across the country and he rarely has the money to see them. He has no romantic life to speak of unless you count his escapades with a merman. That’s all he needs and it’s all he wants. One Saturday night, Rhett is finally finishing reading The Old Man and the Sea as they lay on their backs on the boat deck. The end is sad, yet hopeful. Rhett shivers at the thought of his hands being injured like the man’s. Link senses his discomfort and draws slow circles on his arm as he reads the last few paragraphs. They fall silent when he’s done, both individually digesting the story. 

Rhett ponders the question Link asked after he read the first time. He starts to think that maybe he's the fish and Link the man, helplessly tethered together, Rhett incapable of leaving without ripping himself open. Or maybe he's already dead, dragging alongside Link in the water, being torn apart, pieces of his heart drifting to the bottom of the sea.

After a long while of silence, Link speaks up, “I want to tell you how I became this.” 

“Okay,” Rhett says, taking his hand and squeezing. 

It takes a while for Link to gather his thoughts. Rhett gazes into the sunset patiently, no other place he’d rather be right now. “Mermaids and mermen are all originally human. A human becomes a merperson when they drown. Years ago I was tied up and thrown into the sea for being homosexual.” Link pauses and takes a deep breath. “I don’t know how old I am and I don’t know how long I’ll live. There are other merpeople, but it gets lonely. Maybe if you ever go away I’ll go find one of the cities in the deep ocean.”

The stars come out over their heads in Rhett’s silence. His response is bursting to get out of his head, but he can’t make his lips form the words. It’s fully dark by the time Link says in a quiet voice, “Rhett?”

“Drown me,” Rhett says with an exhale.

“What?” Link asks, disbelief coloring his voice.

“Please, Link, drown me.” He shifts up on his elbow, pleading eyes searching Link’s. The blue shines unnaturally in the dark. “Please, I’m asking you, begging you. You are the only important thing in my life. There’s nothing for me here. I’m only living when I’m with you. I want to be with you all the time.”

Link leans forward, an inch from his lips, searching the human’s face with a growing iciness in his eyes. Rhett feels tears pooling with the weight of his request, but he’s never wanted anything more in his life than to be with Link. “I lied to you, Rhett,” Link whispers, lifting his hand to run his fingers through his curls, “There are creatures like sirens in the ocean.” He presses their lips together in a breathtaking kiss. It’s over too quickly and Rhett chases after him with his mouth, having not registered his words, but Link is already moving to slide off the boat. 

“Wait!” Rhett says desperately, reaching for him. “Please!” He nearly sobs.

Link slips into the water and a moment later rests his arms on the side of the boat to look at Rhett, head tilted to the side. The man scrambles over to him and takes his mouth again in a desperate kiss. “You are such a beautiful man,” Link says. Rhett barely notices the melodic tones in the words, gaze locked on the blue eyes in front of him. Link cups the back of his neck with his hands, beginning to slowly pull him down. Half of Rhett’s body is over the water when he instinctively resists. “Kiss me, it will be easier,” Link breathes against his mouth. Rhett doesn’t hesitate, but he keeps his eyes open, unable to look away from the bright blue that is slowly being taken over by the black of Link’s pupils. The man doesn’t even notice when his body is finally free of the boat and beneath the waves. 

If Rhett was in his right mind, he’d see no trace of humanity left in Link’s eyes. He’s not in his right mind, though. He’s trapped in heavy layers of blue with strong hands on the back of his neck. All he can think about is being with Link forever, no longer separated by circumstances and species.

They sink down, down, down, Link’s arms still wrapped around him. Rhett keeps his eyes on Link’s until black spots dance in his vision. 

When Rhett finally closes his eyes, there’s only a sliver of blue left.

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is harper44!


End file.
